Tails of Marin: Experts hope to introduce more people into world of wolves
By Camilla Fox
Posted: 06/18/2010 09:05:31 PM PDT
Northern Rockies and coyotes fill vacant niches where wolves once dominated the landscape, misunderstanding and misinformation of these wild canines can drown out the melody and lead to conflict.
No other species is as beloved and reviled as the wolf. Two renowned wolf experts, Paul Paquet and Marco Musiani will share their stories, observations and research in a series of Bay Area talks this month sponsored by Marin-based Project Coyote.
Paquet and Musiani are co-editors of two new books, "A New Era for Wolves and People" and "The World of Wolves." Studying wolves all over the world from Saskatchewan to Montana, Paquet and Musiani have collectively more than 50 years experience in wolf ecology and behavior.
Their latest work focuses as much on people as canis lupus because human behavior and socio-politics are as much or more important than wolf behavior in determining the fate of the species.
This is equally true for the wolf's close relative - the coyote. Both species have been unrelenting victims of misguided federal predator control programs, snaring, aerial hunting, poisoning, bounties, denning (the killing of coyote/wolf pups in their dens) and body-count contest hunts where prizes are awarded for the largest and most animals killed. And now as hybridization between coyotes and wolves is taking place in the Northeast where wolves are protected and coyotes can be killed year round in unlimited numbers, questions about appropriate and ethical management, wolf recovery and conservation, and wild canid evolution are coming to the fore.
While many local residents complain about rodent infestations and the presence of wild turkeys and Canada geese, the coyote is one of the most effective predators of all three.
Project Coyote's mission is to promote educated coexistence between people, coyotes and other native carnivores, noting that the presence of a "problem" or habituated coyote that has lost its fear of people is often the product of inadvertent or intentional feeding.
Readers should check http://www.projectcoyote.org/ < http://www.ProjectCoyote.org> for information about how to coexist with coyotes and reduce negative encounters with America's native wild "song dog."
Food chain apex carnivores have always made people feel uneasy and the unease is often the product of misunderstanding normal animal behavior.
We cannot change our own behavior and design effective strategies for sharing our community with wildlife until we "know" these species - and understand how our actions can both positively and negatively effect our interactions with wild carnivores.
INFORMATION ON PACQUET AND MUSIANI EVENT:
What: "World of Wolves" with Paul Paquet and Marco Musiani
When: 6 p.m. June 24
Where: Marin Humane Society, 171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd., Novato
Admission: Free
Information: 883-4621, http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/ < http://www.marinhumanesociety.org> , projectcoyote.com
When: 7 to 9 p.m. June 25
Where: Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Admission: Free
Information: 927-0960; http://www.bookpassage.com/ < http://www.bookpassage.com
Project CoyoteP.O. Box 5007
Larkspur, CA 94977
ph: 415.945.3232
No other species is as beloved and reviled as the wolf. Two renowned wolf experts, Paul Paquet and Marco Musiani will share their stories, observations and research in a series of Bay Area talks this month sponsored by Marin-based Project Coyote.
Paquet and Musiani are co-editors of two new books, "A New Era for Wolves and People" and "The World of Wolves." Studying wolves all over the world from Saskatchewan to Montana, Paquet and Musiani have collectively more than 50 years experience in wolf ecology and behavior.
Their latest work focuses as much on people as canis lupus because human behavior and socio-politics are as much or more important than wolf behavior in determining the fate of the species.
This is equally true for the wolf's close relative - the coyote. Both species have been unrelenting victims of misguided federal predator control programs, snaring, aerial hunting, poisoning, bounties, denning (the killing of coyote/wolf pups in their dens) and body-count contest hunts where prizes are awarded for the largest and most animals killed. And now as hybridization between coyotes and wolves is taking place in the Northeast where wolves are protected and coyotes can be killed year round in unlimited numbers, questions about appropriate and ethical management, wolf recovery and conservation, and wild canid evolution are coming to the fore.
While many local residents complain about rodent infestations and the presence of wild turkeys and Canada geese, the coyote is one of the most effective predators of all three.
Project Coyote's mission is to promote educated coexistence between people, coyotes and other native carnivores, noting that the presence of a "problem" or habituated coyote that has lost its fear of people is often the product of inadvertent or intentional feeding.
Readers should check http://www.projectcoyote.org/ < http://www.ProjectCoyote.org> for information about how to coexist with coyotes and reduce negative encounters with America's native wild "song dog."
Food chain apex carnivores have always made people feel uneasy and the unease is often the product of misunderstanding normal animal behavior.
We cannot change our own behavior and design effective strategies for sharing our community with wildlife until we "know" these species - and understand how our actions can both positively and negatively effect our interactions with wild carnivores.
INFORMATION ON PACQUET AND MUSIANI EVENT:
What: "World of Wolves" with Paul Paquet and Marco Musiani
When: 6 p.m. June 24
Where: Marin Humane Society, 171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd., Novato
Admission: Free
Information: 883-4621, http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/ < http://www.marinhumanesociety.org> , projectcoyote.com
When: 7 to 9 p.m. June 25
Where: Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Admission: Free
Information: 927-0960; http://www.bookpassage.com/ < http://www.bookpassage.com
Project CoyoteP.O. Box 5007
Larkspur, CA 94977
ph: 415.945.3232
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment